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The first time I read it to my grandchildren, it was a bedtime story - perfect because the pencil and the paintbrush settle down together at the end. The next 10 times we read it together it inspired them to want to draw, color, paint, and make up stories. We all love this book!

Any child who spends a lot of time with art materials will especially appreciate this quirky little book about a pencil and a paintbrush who together create a whole world. They find out that it's more difficult to manage than they expected! Ahlberg is a genius with silliness.

Once upon a time, a lonely little pencil lay alone for a long time on a piece of paper, doing nothing.

Then, one day, it moved a little… and then a little more. Soon it began to draw.

First it sketched a boy. It drew a dog for the boy, and a cat, too.

When the dog and cat refused to eat black and white food, the pencil drew a paintbrush to add colour. After that, the pencil and the paintbrush created a bright, beautiful world of colour in which the boy and his pets could live and play - a town with people, animals, houses, roads and parks.

However, the people in that world weren’t happy. They complained about how they were drawn – “My ears are too big!” “This hat looks silly!” and so on. The pencil created an eraser to remove their complaints, and all was well again … for a time.

Suddenly, the eraser began to do its job all too well. It began to rub out houses, flowers and trees. The pencil needed to draw a plan, quickly! What would it do now?

Reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon, the clever ending and the plot of Allan Ahlberg’s new picture book about imagination and creativity will keep children guessing what will happen next.

A very clever little story of a pencil that is lonely and draws some friends to keep him company. This decision to play God has disastrous repercussions and the pencil must make save the day in a very unique way. Funny, with a warm message this will be a favourite for the whole family.